Eureka iTechhttps://www.eureka-it.com
Discover what IT can do for your business.Tue, 15 Jan 2019 04:22:00 +0000en-US
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1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.2.1https://www.eureka-it.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/eit-E-256x250.jpgEureka iTechhttps://www.eureka-it.com
3232How to build a NonProfit Websitehttps://www.eureka-it.com/how-to-build-a-nonprofit-website/
https://www.eureka-it.com/how-to-build-a-nonprofit-website/#respondTue, 15 Jan 2019 04:18:22 +0000https://www.eureka-it.com/?p=216078Companies that build truly awesome websites know all too well that building a fantastic website is not a monkey’s job. It takes a lot of thought, design, imagination, integration and great ideas to make it right. The Dentistry for All (DFA) website is an example of a well-designed site that Eureka iTech built in the last quarter of 2018.

Building the Dentistry for All Website

Let’sfaceit:buildingasimplewebsiteisamonkey’sjob. Manyeasy-to-usetools are available. As a result, almost anyone canwhipupa page based on a boilerplatedesign in minutes.However,thecompaniesthatbuildtrulyawesomewebsitesknowalltoowellthatbuildingafantasticwebsiteisnotamonkey’sjob.Ittakesalotofthought,design,imagination,integrationandgreatideastomakeitright.TheDentistryforAll(DFA)websiteisanexampleofawell-designedsitethatEurekaiTechbuiltinthelastquarterof2018.

DentistryforAllisanonprofitcharitybasedinCalgary and run by a group of committed dentists in Canada and the U.S.ItsmembersprovidedentalcareandeducationtopeopleinremoteareasofGuatemala,NicaraguaandthePhilippines. Since 1995, dedicated volunteers haveassistedover30,000patientsandcompletedmorethan83,000procedures. Atleasttwiceayear, DFA organizes trips to Central America withdentists,hygienists,translatorsandhandymen.The charity is fundedbyregulardonorsandthroughannualfundraisingeventshostedinCalgary.ItsBoardofDirectorsmeetsregularlyandmaintainsthehigheststandardstoensuremaximumvalueisdeliveredforeverydollardonated.

The decision to change the website

In the latter half of 2018, the DFA board set a goal to rebuild the website, with these requirements:

Convert all printable PDF forms into fully electronic forms that users can fill out online.

Integrate with the organization’s online contact database so that new subscribers, volunteers and donors are managed securely and in one single database.

Post and edit content with ease; specifically, make adding new blogs, or uploading photos and videos, much simpler.

Integrate with social media sites such as Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook to facilitate content sharing.

Provide Spanish translation for people visiting the site from Central and South America.

Apply the latest SEO techniques for the site to appear in search results.

Generate website analytic reports to review what pages are most visited and what pages need work.

How did we design the site?

Building a robust website is never the job of a web designer alone. The process requires collaboration with the business to understand what the website should do. To streamline communications, the DFA board created an internal website committee comprising three members. The members had a firm understanding of the goals and were ultimately responsible for the delivery of the website. Eureka held several sessions with the committee to understand requirements and deliver a project estimate. Given that DFA is a nonprofit enterprise, we set a reduced hourly rate to make the cost more affordable.

Here are the steps we followed:

Outline the requirements so that everyone understands what we are doing, why we are doing it and who is responsible.

Create wireframes to help users visualize the site navigation, components and integration. Get the DFA website committee to sign off on the plan.

Build the website in a password-protected environment and get a graphic designer to create the art pieces.

Add relevant content, with DFA helping to create and edit the pages.

Once all the pieces are in place and the committee has signed off, proceed to plan implementation.

Execute the final release, move all components online, set Google Analytics and connect to social media sites.

What tools and software did we use?

We selected the following tools and software to complete our build:

SiteGround to host the site: It is one of the most reliable and fastest multi-tenant hosting services around.

WordPress to create the site: We used Divito generate the themes and implemented the following plugins:

Eureka required numerous usernames and passwords to manage all the components. We used LastPassto safeguard passwords and share them securely with DFA as needed.

How much does it cost to maintain the site?

One of the key questions we get after building a site is, “What are the maintenance costs?” Because DFA is a nonprofit, we were able to negotiate great deals from some of the providers:

Eureka is a Microsoft Business Partner, and we helped DFA obtain a few licenses for O365 Nonprofit Business Essentials, which costs just $2.25/user/month. That package includes SharePoint online, Outlook mail, MS Word, Excel and OneNote.

Cognito Forms extended us a 20% discount. For a $8.00/month, we created the volunteer forms and connected them to SharePoint.

SiteGround, as a multitenant environment, charges only about $10.00/month for hosting services.

The cost of the WordPress plugins, such as Cloudinary and Weglot, were free.

Mailchimp was also free because the membership list was relatively short.

Eureka Moments

In conclusion, building a strong website takes time and creativity. We found five practices to be key to building this site robustly and securely for DFA:

Forming a website committee: Eureka answered only to the DFA committee and not to the full board, which streamlined communications and approvals. This was a smart move we recommend when working with a large organization.

Creating wireframes: We used the Balsamiq Cloudtool to quickly sketch the pages and give the website committee a visual of what we were going to deliver. This step made early design collaboration a snap.

Having a solid grasp of WordPress and how to use it: This advice might sound obvious, but anyone building a great website needs to understand how to manager WordPress, plugins, and DevOps.

Prioritizing security: By using LastPass and complex passwords, we were able to collaborate with sensitive data much more easily. Before the release, we provided DFA administrators with access to LastPass. DFA now controls all the components delivered.

Streamlining automation and workflow: We added SharePoint Online and MS Flow, and moved to O365, to simplify DFA’s use of the site. We also leveraged Microsoft SharePoint security schema. Sensitive information about contacts, event management, documents and photos are safeguarded and audited using a common standard.

]]>https://www.eureka-it.com/how-to-build-a-nonprofit-website/feed/0Microsoft Teams Guest Accesshttps://www.eureka-it.com/microsoft-teams-guest-access/
https://www.eureka-it.com/microsoft-teams-guest-access/#respondFri, 27 Jul 2018 07:19:27 +0000https://www.eureka-it.com/?p=1044Microsoft Teams can now be downloaded for free and that has made it more attractive to a lot of organizations. However, Microsoft Teams guest access is disabled by default. Read this quick Two-Minute Tip to learn how to enabled external users to join your Microsoft Teams.

Two Minute Tip: How to enable Microsoft Teams guest access

Microsoft Teams can now be downloaded for free and that has made it more attractive to a lot of organizations. However, Microsoft Teams guest access is disabled by default. In today’s agile work environment teams need to include people outside their organization. Microsoft Teams is the hub for teamwork in Office 365. It has tons of features which we will highlight in future posts.

You need to enable the feature that allows external users to access Microsoft Teams. You need to log in to Office 365 with administrator credentials. Navigate to the Admin Center. Expand the Settings menu and click on the Services & add-ins menu item.

This menu item opens a page listing all the services and add-ins for your Office 365 environment. Scroll down and locate the Microsoft Teams item.

Click on the Microsoft Teams item to open a panel on the right side of the screen. The panel contains all the tenant-wide settings and allows you to review and change them.

There are several expandable sections in the panel. Locate the one titled Settings by user/license type. There are two controls in this section. The first is labelled Select the user/license type you want to configure. It is a drop-down field and by default, it displays Business & Enterprise. Click on it and select Guest.

The second control is labelled Turn Microsoft Teams on or off for all users of thistype. It is a toggle switch and by default, it is set to Off. Click on it to toggle it to On. Click the Save button at the bottom of the panel.

You can now add guest users to Microsoft Teams

Navigate back to your Microsoft Teams site now and add your guest users. To add members to your team click on the three dots to the right of the Team name. That will drop down a menu with the option to Add members. When you click on that menu item it will open a little panel with an editable field.

Type or paste in the email address of the guest you wish to invite to the Teams space. As you type, matching names from the directory are displayed below the field. Now that we have enabled guest access, once you have entered a valid email address, you are presented with the option to add the email address as a guest. Click on the option and person will be added to the Team. You can invite several people at once. Just enter their email addresses one at a time and click Add each time. When you are done adding people, click Close.

The guest users are sent an email from Microsoft Teams. The email notifies them they have been added to the Team. The email also contains a summary of Microsoft Teams’ features and provides links to the team. The guest will need to log in with a Microsoft account to access Microsoft Teams. If they don’t have one they will be able to create one for free.

]]>https://www.eureka-it.com/microsoft-teams-guest-access/feed/0How to give external users access to SharePointhttps://www.eureka-it.com/give-external-users-access-to-sharepoint/
https://www.eureka-it.com/give-external-users-access-to-sharepoint/#commentsTue, 05 Jun 2018 19:56:23 +0000https://eureka-it.com/?p=970SharePoint is a great way to share information and collaborate with people working on a project. And there will be times when you want to work with people outside of your organization. They could be clients, vendors or subcontractors, either way, they need to be on the same page as everyone else. So let’s answer the question, “How to give external users access to SharePoint?”

Two-Minute Tip: How to give external users access to SharePoint

SharePoint is a great way to share information and collaborate with people working on a project. Adding people that are part of your organization is easy. That feature is part of the wizard that guides you through setting up a SharePoint site. But there are times when you want to work with people outside of your organization. They could be clients or subcontractors, either way, they need to be on the same page as everyone else on the project. So let’s answer the question, “How to give external users access to SharePoint?”

Follow these steps to grant guest access to an Office 365 site

Go to site’s home page. At the top of the page, to the right of the site name, you will see an icon, a number and “Members” link.

Click on the “Members” link in the upper right part of the screen. A panel will slide in on the right side of the screen with a button labelled “Add members”. Click that “Add members” button.

The panel content will update and you will be able to enter the name of a group or person in your organization. As you start typing in the box, matching names will appear and you can select on.

That is nice, but we want to add a guest user, so click on the “go to Outlook” link above the box.

That link will take you to a new page that shows the current members of the SharePoint site. That page will also have an “Add members” icon and link. Clicking on it will allow you to add new members, including guest members.

Click the “Add members” icon. On the right side of the screen, a panel with an edit box will open up. Type the email address of the guest user into the box and press Enter.

The guest user will be added to a list of new users to be added, below the edit box. A “Save” button will appear at the top of the panel and a message with a link to learn more appears at the bottom. When you have added all the quest user emails you wish to add, click the “Save” button.

While the group is being updated, the “Save” button is replaced with a spinner image and “Saving…”. It looks like this:

Once it is done updating the group, you are shown the new group member list.

That’s all you need to do to give external users access to SharePoint!

The external user experience

The people you invite will get an email message inviting them to the site. There they’ll be able to share messages and files and to coordinate group events in the SharePoint site.

The guest user will have to set up a Microsoft account if they don’t already have one. The setup screen as of the time of writing this article looked like this: